Manufacturers of heavy durable equipment such as lawn mowers, lawn and garden tractors, riding lawn mowers, and the like equipment, package the products in containers for storage and shipping. There are different types of containers used for packaging such equipment including walled cleated containers such as corrugated paperboard wood-cleated containers, and frame-member crates that use wood or steel tube members connected together to form a crate. These containers and crates are referred to generally as containers. Generally, the containers include a pallet, or base, which supports the article within the containers. Posts extend vertically from the pallet and receive or connect to a top frame. The pallet, the posts, and the top frame define a cavity or space which is occupied by the article positioned on the pallet. Some such containers include corrugated paperboard sidewalls or panels. Top flaps foldably attach to the panels to close the open top end of the container. Other of these panel-wall containers use a cap that seats over the upper end of the posts or on the top frame to close the container.
The containers use the posts to define the interior space to be occupied by the equipment, as well as to communicate top-load compression forces incurred by stacking two or more such containers, for example, in a warehouse for storage or in a truck for shipping. The top frame facilitates the transfer of the top load force through the posts to the pallet.
While corrugated paperboard wood-cleated crates have been particularly useful for packaging lawn and garden tractors, some manufacturers have preferred to use frame-type packing crates that assemble from elongate wood or steel tube members. Because such crates lack sidewalls, articles held in such frame crates are typically enclosed in plastic sheeting to prevent infiltration of dust and dirt to the equipment.
At a packing station of a lawn mower manufacturing plant, a finished lawn riding mower is placed on the pallet. This typically involves using an overhead hoist to lift the riding lawn mower over the pallet and then lower the lawn mower onto the pallet. As an alternative, the riding lawn mower could be pushed or driven onto the pallet in the packaging station. It is to be appreciated that wheeled articles placed on pallets of containers can be readily secured to the pallet, such as by straps or connectors, for example, the tie-down device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,398. Articles with spring suspensions particularly can be strapped in place, while riding lawn mowers generally do not require strapping.
Subsequently, containerized lawn mowers are typically stacked together for storage in warehouses, and for shipping from warehouses to retail outlets. Known crates use a variety of structural elements to facilitate stacking of two crates for handling, storing, and shipping.
Further, to conserve space and reduce the likelihood of tipping, the center of gravity of the container and the contained equipment should be as low relative to the container. However, the rear wheels of riding lawn mowers typically are larger than the front wheels, and accommodation of differing size wheels on some known pallets may cause the lawn mower to be elevated relative to base members of the pallet that contact a floor or ground. This can result in an elevated center-of-gravity.
Another problem arises at the retail sales center for the lawn mower. The lawn mower must be removed from the crate for display and sale. Pushing lawn mowers from the pallet requires participation of several persons, particularly if the wheels are chocked by transverse members in the pallet.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved crate for storing, handling, and shipping of riding lawn mowers to have a low center of gravity yet providing structure for readily removing the riding lawn mower from the crate. It is to such that the present invention is directed.